Are you a Financial Advisor who has chosen a niche? Congratulations! This is such an important step in setting your business up for long term success. Maybe you’ve decided to target people going through divorce or business owners or executives at a local corporation or something else.
After you’ve chosen a niche, the next step is to reach out to that niche. Sometimes I notice that some advisors kind of sit back on their heels and wait for business to happen TO them. What I’m recommending is that you take the initiative to reach out to the people you want to work with. Make the first move in the relationship to get it started.
Here’s how.
First, do a little research on your niche. This phase should only last 30 days. Don’t succumb to the temptation to research for months, just give yourself 30 days to research, then start reaching out.
To learn about the market, pinpoint a few people who fit the niche to pick their brains about their concerns. They don’t have to be clients or have an advisor. Just make it clear you’re not looking for their business, but for information. You can frame your request to meet by describing the person as an expert, someone whose opinion would be invaluable to you. Once you meet with them, they’re likely to provide insights you couldn’t come up with on your own. Existing clients belonging to your niche will be most useful, however. You’ll learn about their problems and needs so you can successfully serve them and market to them.
If you’re targeting specific companies or industry: you’ll literally study their 401(k) plans, their pension plans, and you become an expert at everything going on in those companies.
If that company has an internal newsletter or annual report, you need to read every word, and pick up on certain things happening in their company and culture.
Also, research to discover where you can find this group of people gathering, either online or in person. That could be conferences, common publications or websites, or even public websites that can show you when life events happen.
Social media can be huge for this targeting. For example, you could target specific job titles or employees of a specific company with LinkedIn advertising. You can also find out who’s recently changed jobs on LinkedIn. You could even target employees at a certain company who are aged 50-65 – pre-retirees. Public records can help you find business owners who’ve just sold their business. And the depth of targeting for life events available on Facebook is scary: for instance, you can target people whose Relationship Status changed to Married, or changed to Separated, or people who have an interest in Pregnancy (which indicates they’re about to have a child.)So, finding business owners or people going through divorce is really not that difficult.
After you’ve done this research, then pull the trigger and take action on a handful of communication strategies to attract your ideal client:
1. Write about your niche in ALL your marketing: website, newsletter, business card, LinkedIn profile – everywhere you have a presence. Don’t keep it a secret, make it your first foot forward in any conversation.
2. 10 second pitch: concisely sum up who you help and how. For example: “I help people going through a divorce navigate the process well, so they can begin the next chapter of their lives in the best financial position possible.”
3. Create a free resource specifically about their needs and offer it on your website. This should call out your exact ideal client. For instance, if you’re targeting executives at Disney, you might call your resource “Top 10 Mistakes Disney Executives Make in Their Retirement Planning.”
4. Schedule a Lunch and Learn at company or association where your ideal client is.
(These strategies will get you started.)
Here are some extra Bonus strategies, if you’re feeling especially ambitious:
1. Advertise to your target market through LinkedIn ad, Facebook ads, industry publications, or websites.
2. Network where your ideal client hangs out.
3. As you learn about your audience, you’ll see more opportunities for how to reach out to them where they are.
**This blog post is based on material shared during this game-changing webinar: 3 Keys to Unlocking the Riches in Financial Advisor Niches. To watch the full webinar, click here for more insights, actionable strategies, and inspiration: https://faclientmachine.easywebinar.live/registration